Taliaferro masterfully attends to the long, busy arc of his subject's life, scouring some 40,000 pages of Grinnell's letters, numerous diaries, and travelogs, years of Forest and Stream articles, plus his monographs to create a satisfying portrait. The reader's reward is a sense of nature, native culture, and landscapes as viewed through an observant explorer's eyes, at the moment when Westward expansion was irrevocably changing it ... This richly detailed biography will engage students of environmental history and general readers alike.
Readers may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the scope of Mr. Taliaferro’s coverage, but few will dispute that he does justice to his subject ... While Mr. Taliaferro’s admiration for his subject is unmistakable, Grinnell is no hagiography. The man was not ahead of his time but embedded within it, acting with the lofty confidence typical of the patrician WASP milieu in which he lived and operated ... Mr. Taliaferro sums up Grinnell as 'the prototype of the city-dwelling environmentalist whose conscience and money today fuel organizations such as the Sierra Club.'
In John Taliaferro’s book, we finally have an exhaustively detailed biography of an inexhaustible man who deserves his place in the pantheon of environmental founders ... There is far too much detail about peripheral matters that do little to enhance the character or his passions ... He is coy — annoyingly so — about whether Grinnell, who married late in life, might have been gay ... Grinnell’s memory lives on in the wild. And with this book, he is given the fresh look that he deserves.
... [a] strapping biography ... Grinnell’s passions were so numerous and varied that he can be an elusive figure, and it doesn’t help that Taliaferro stuffs his biography with too much detail, including plot summaries of the adventure novels Grinnell wrote for boys ... Taliaferro doesn’t shy away from the issues posed by his subject’s life, including the ethics of hunting, the level of development that should be allowed in a national park, even homosexuality ... In each case, the author levelheadedly presents the known facts and lets the reader make up his or her own mind.
It’s a story Americans need to know and appreciate ... I’ve spent much of my life sharing a property boundary with the Forest Service, but I knew little of the complex behind-the-scenes machinations and the public appeals that produced this unlikely wonder. I’m struck, reading these accounts, how useful the history is for the present moment. They prompt the important recollection that Americans have at times demanded that our prosperity protect the public good, not just private interests.
Taliaferro...proves equal to the challenge of singing Grinnell’s long overdue praises in this sweeping account of his life and many lasting accomplishments ... Taliaferro’s work has all the earmarks of a first-rate biography: colorful anecdotes, cameos of the many famous people Grinnell rubbed elbows with, and absorbing prose that will inspire reader admiration for this often overlooked but important environmental hero.
Taliaferro...delivers an impressive, eminently readable biography ... Anyone who’s ever set foot in a national park and wondered how it came to be will find an important part of the answer in this expansive look at an equally expansive life.
Taliaferro...thoroughly—and with due admiration—documents the life of 'a man of worthy causes' ... Although the author hints at 'secrets,' he reveals little about Grinnell’s intimate relationships with friends and family, including his wife, whom he suddenly married in 1902 ... Taliaferro portrays Grinnell evenhandedly as a man of his time ... Grinnell’s life, Taliaferro aptly concludes, 'was a study in romanticism, evolution, and progressivism.' A fine biography of a significant environmental champion.
